Record numbers complete ACCA final exams

Global 10 Feb 2014

'Research has shown that employers are seeking compete finance professionals. Passing the ACCA exams and completing the practical experience requirements (PER), provides the market place with qualified professional accountants who demonstrate these skills and competencies.'

—Alan Hatfield, director - learning,ACCA

More students on the road to becoming ‘complete finance professionals’

Global exam results for ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) reveal today that a record number of students around the world successfully completed their final exams in December 2013.

Almost 195,000 candidates took over 357,000 papers around the world, with an additional 57,000 students sitting computer based exams.

7,980 students (7,700 June 2013) have completed all the exams needed for that aspect of their professional qualification, enabling these students to take the next step to ACCA membership on completion of their practical experience and ethics requirements.

Pass rates in the Professional Level remained constant overall, but some improvements were seen in the final level Options exams. In particular, students performed well in the 50 mark case study in P4 - Advanced Financial Management and the pass rate rose by 8%. Other Options exams and the Essentials exams remained close to historic pass rates.

Overall pass rates across the Skills module (F4 to F9) of the ACCA Qualification fell this session, other than F4, Corporate and Business Law, where results improved over the previous session. Despite the slight decline in pass rates at the Skills module, 8,455 students become eligible at this session for ACCA’s Advanced Diploma in Accounting and Business on completion of their Professional Ethics module which is another step to membership.

Additionally, 4,833 students transferred from the Foundations in Accountancy register to the ACCA Professional Qualification on completion of their Diploma in Accounting and Business exams or their Foundation Specialist exams.

Alan Hatfield, ACCA director - learning, said about the results: 'These are all demanding exams which must not be underestimated, the Professional Level exams being equivalent to Master’s degree level. Research has shown that employers are seeking compete finance professionals. Passing the ACCA exams and completing the practical experience requirements (PER), provides the market place with qualified professional accountants who demonstrate these skills and competencies.'

Alan Hatfield continued: 'We congratulate all students who have passed this session’s exams – they deserve a great deal of credit, particularly the 7,980 who have completed their final exams. It’s also pleasing to see that many students who have passed their final papers have also completed their practical experience requirements whilst studying for the exams. Practical experience is an important requirement of becoming an ACCA member, and we look forward to welcoming our new members soon.'

Alan Hatfield concluded: 'As in previous sessions, our results analysis shows that students who study with approved learning providers, and use the ACCA quality assured study materials, fare much better in the exams than those who do not. We recognise that not everyone has access to face to face tuition and there are now a number of quality-assured distance learning packages available for students. Additionally, at ACCA we are exploring other innovative ways to help students in their studies.'

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) is the global body for professional accountants. We aim to offer business-relevant, first-choice qualifications to people of application, ability and ambition around the world who seek a rewarding career in accountancy, finance and management.

We support our 162,000 members and 428,000 students in 173 countries, helping them to develop successful careers in accounting and business, with the skills required by employers. We work through a network of over 89 offices and centres and more than 8,500 Approved Employers worldwide, who provide high standards of employee learning and development. Through our public interest remit, we promote appropriate regulation of accounting and conduct relevant research to ensure accountancy continues to grow in reputation and influence.

Founded in 1904, ACCA has consistently held unique core values: opportunity, diversity, innovation, integrity and accountability. We believe that accountants bring value to economies in all stages of development and seek to develop capacity in the profession and encourage the adoption of global standards. Our values are aligned to the needs of employers in all sectors and we ensure that through our qualifications, we prepare accountants for business. We seek to open up the profession to people of all backgrounds and remove artificial barriers, innovating our qualifications and delivery to meet the diverse needs of trainee professionals and their employers.